Dawn of the MiracleWorker
by starshock1995
Summary: After a year of relative peace, Starshock returns to Azeroth, hoping to find a calmer world than the one he left, but his new situation proves more bewildering than his last one...
1. Chapter 1

Prior Knowledge-

It has been some time since I've uploaded a story, so I figured I'd catch new readers up to speed as well as refresh older ones before anything else.

These are the continuing stories of the tauren Paladin now known as Starshock, and his ambitious project to end hostilities between the horde and the alliance. With the support of a repentant benefactor, he was able to make that dream a near reality by founding the City of Miracles, an enormous research facility with the explicit goal of designing technology and magic that could combat the burning legion, and the implicit goal of forming a seamless connection between the two factions and their people. But in the war-torn land of Azeroth, he has had to keep the CoM a secret from his leaders, working to change the world from the inside out...

But after a year of working in the shadows, Starshock will return to the World of Warcraft and face countless new perils, with the help of many new allies, learning many new things about this changing world, and even a few things about himself.

* * *

_"Today is a great day for Azeroth. With Garrosh Hellscream on trial for his atrocities against Azeroth's people, and the prospect of a ceasefire on the horizon, we are an enormous step closer to uniting Azeroth. Our work is not yet over, for only when the individuals of Azeroth are at peace with each other, just as their leaders are, will we be able to stand together when the time comes..."_

Musing over his recent journal entry, Starshock, less ambitious than he used to be, but still hopeful, sighed contently, knowing that his dream could soon be a reality. He put his pen back in his desk and turned to the window, gazing down at the city that made this hope possible. The blue glow of the roads and the violet hue of their sky set his mind at ease even on his toughest days, but looking at it on its own, he couldn't help but smile.

"The City of Miracles has grown so much over the past year...

I've been cooped up here in this tower for too long. Maybe I should head down and see what awaits me-"

His thoughts were cut short when he heard something banging on his door. Before he could yell back about his office being closed, the door opened on its own, revealing an old friend of his.

"Malygos, it's been so long..."

The tall elven figure just smiled back at him.

"Well, what brings you here? You've never come by until now."

"I've never had to." He responded, "You've done very well leading this place on your own. But as for why I'm here _now_, well...

Perhaps I should just take you with me..."

He opened up a portal in front of him, leading Starshock through it. When he stepped through, he ended up in a strange looking cave. Malygos came in behind him and began talking.

"Within this cave lies a powerful magic, one never seen by the world of mortals or dragons...

I have a hunch that you and your City of Miracles can help me unravel its secrets."

Starshock just looked confused and nodded, following him through the cave. As they wandered deeper into the cave, it became more apparent that they were wandering into a titan engine of some kind as rock gave way to machine, culminating at the end of the cave, if he could even call it that. Whatever Malygos had described appeared to be contained within a locked chest, and a strong looking one too...

"Stand back, Malygos. I still have some lock busting equipment on me."

He pulled out a very small explosive charge from his pack and attached it to the chest's lock. Then without warning, he struck it with his axe, setting off the charge and breaking the lock. Malygos was shocked at this crude method, but soon shrugged it off as Star opened the chest up, revealing a small assortment of gems. Each of the 5 shining stones varied in shape and color, and they all stood out very clearly, but the one that had caught his attention most of all was a small star-shaped gem with a brilliant yellow shine. Taking the gem in his hand, he felt something different about him, like he was becoming stronger.

"Maly, what kind of magic was in those stones again?"

* * *

Not long after finding the gems, Starshock returned to the City of Miracles and immediately ran off to the magic studies center. As he had expected, the city had changed quite a lot as he wandered towards the main building. The plain box-like buildings that the city had started with had taken on new life and more elaborate designs, with many strong colors standing out to him, and a strange feeling of awe washed over him throughout. As he wandered into the main research center, a dome-looking structure with a tile roof, he was approached by a blood elf wearing plain but colorful robes.

"Boss! I wasn't expecting to see from you today. Would you care for an update on the temporal-"

"Thanks, but, I know how the project is doing. I would like to actually reassign focus to a new project. I need an expert at the magic research center to study these gems I've found..."

He placed all but one of the gems on the table, holding onto the star shaped gem.

"Starshock, do you plan to study that particular gem on your own?"

"Yes. Yes I do. But first, I'd like to go back to Kalmindor to see how things are going for myself..."

With these parting words, Starshock reached into his bag and pulled out his favorite pair of goggles, placing them on his head. He then pulled out his old Hearthstone, using it to take him back to Orgrimmar.

* * *

As Starshock disappeared in front of her, the elf, a bit confused by her boss's decision, took the gems from the table and went looking for an active researcher. Unfortunately, after a short look around this portion of the city, she realized that every magical researcher in the city was either on leave or occupied with another project, except for one...

After a moment of thought, she went back to the magic research station's main building and inscribed something on the holographic screen in front of her.

"Attention, David Jeffrey, pseudonym, DJ GotYa, report on the MSC office of assignment for a new mission."

Within only a minute, the individual in question, a young but ragged looking human with fairly long but well kept blonde hair, had arrived at the office.

"So I see the MSC has need of my assistance. What do I owe this new work to?"

"Save the lip for your songs, DJ..." the elf sneered back. "Anyway, boss found these weird magic crystals and he wants us to figure out what they are and how they work."

DJ took one of the crystals in his hand and declared, "These crystals appear to be channeling instruments of some kind. Perhaps we should visit the firing range to see what they are capable of..."

The two went down to the CoM's weapon testing field, and decided to test an attack on their strongest target, a dummy built to resemble a pit lord.

DJ channeled a powerful surge of energy, clenching one of the gems in his hand, then unleashed a powerful bolt of chaotic energy at the target, which impacted with devastating effect. Though it seemed to work, DJ doubled over, the blast having taken a lot out of him.

"No good. I still can't channel that attack without losing most of my energy...

I can tell though, these gems can channel energy, but I don't know how..."

The elf pondered the situation, and realized that maybe Starshock could tell them more about where he found those gems, which could explain how to tap into them. She then spoke to DJ again.

"DJ GotYa, your work is done here. Thanks for your assistance, but I can take it from here."

As the elf opened up a portal to Orgrimmar, taking the gems with her, the ambitious human, realizing he was now unsupervised, decided to travel back to the MSC to continue his _own_ project...


	2. Chapter 2

From darkness, the world around him began to reform itself. From the chill of the grave, he had returned, though he had other concerns on his mind, even as the winged woman floated in front of him informing him of his rebirth. He clutched a gem in his hand as the undertaker approached him.

"About time you woke up. We were about to-

Wait, that staff on your back, that stone...

Could it be? Is it really you?"

"Yes, undertaker; I live again..."

"Ah, I knew it. I had better take you to the Undercity. I'm sure the dark lady would be glad to see you..."

As the undead took his arm, the once elderly human pulled his staff from his back and struck down the undertaker, and he ran from him as fast as he could.

"I should have known he would do this. Well, I had best find aid from the death guards, or the master will be lost to us..."

* * *

As Starshock opened his eyes, he found himself back in Orgrimmar for the first time in a year, though it felt like forever to him. Surprisingly, very little had changed about the city in spite of the apparently vicious siege, though he figured they could have cleaned up in a few months time.

"Hail, innkeeper. Can you inform me of any recent events?"

"Starshock! I thought you had vanished from the face of Azeroth. Anyway, after the siege, things have been pretty quiet. Thrall is still in Pandaria observing Garrosh's trial, Vol'jin has reached a ceasefire with the alliance, albeit a temporary one, and the search was cancelled."

Starshock knew of most of these events, but the last one caught his attention.

"Excuse me, innkeeper, but what search do you refer to?"

"Oh, it was a minor story, so it makes sense you don't know. Well apparently, there's some kind of new faction forming. They haven't opened themselves up to the public, so a lot of folks were getting suspicious about them. Garrosh sent out a search party to track down their base of operations, but nothing was found, and Vol'jin didn't want to waste their energy."

Starshock was worried he might have been talking about the CoM, but he kept himself composed and responded calmly,

"Well, if they make themselves known, I'm sure we can handle them."

Knowing he couldn't find out anything else in Orgrimmar, he called his nether-drake and flew to Ashenvale to see if the Kor'kron, or what was left of them, were still harvesting lumber. Before he reached the outpost, he saw something hiding in the trees. He decided to ignore it and continue flying, but a forceful blast of frost energy sent his drake falling to the ground, along with himself. In spite of the blast, he landed without injury, and his drake was only startled, but he figured that whatever did that was hoping for a lot worse...

"I figured the night elves would still be here, but I was hoping to go about this peacefully...", he whispered to himself, then he pulled out his axe and walked up to a nearby tree.

"Well, if that's how you want to play," he shouted in rough Darnassian, "Then **this** is how _I'm_ going to play!"

He lifted his axe as if to cut down the tree, and as he did, a night elf leaped out at him, but he was ready for her and knocked her away with his shield. Getting a look at her crimson hair, her unnaturally pale skin, her glowing blue eyes, and her weapon of choice, a blade giving off a deathly blue glow, he realized why she was so quick to attack him.

"She's a death knight. Why am I not surprised?"

Though he said this in Orcish, she seemed to understand him and responded back,

"And just what do you mean by that,_ paladin_?"

"I mean," Starshock sneered back, "That only a death knight could be so quick to make an attack like that, and so uncalled for..."

"Stow that talk, tauren, or you'll learn of _something else_ only a death knight could do. Now leave this forest at once; this is the land of my people."

"Yes, I know that, but I'm not here to cause trouble. I've just been away from Kalmindor so long, so I needed to see what had changed. Apparently, many things _have_, and this time for the better..."

The elf seemed kind of surprised by his last statement, and asked him,

"What do you mean?"

Starshock put his axe away and began talking again.

"You see, I'm not like the rest of the horde. I don't want to see these people wasting their lives on a war that never needed to happen in the first place. I know very well what awaits us in the years ahead, and so do you..."

As the night elf listened on, she put her sword away, seemingly growing calm. She finally spoke again.

"Very well. But if you want to see more of what has changed, I recommend you journey back to the Eastern Kingdoms, as there is little else here for you to find."

As Starshock prepared to call his drake, he couldn't help but detect a powerful fel taint from somewhere...

"So I guess those demons aren't important?"

* * *

He and the night elf followed the potent fel energy to its source, and what they found shocked them, to say the least.

In the Demon Fall Canyon, a base of demonic operations not far from Orgrimmar, the legion's division was apparently building some kind of giant machine, and had evidently been bolstering their ranks.

"I thought we had driven the legion out after the Cataclysm...", the death knight said, clearly surprised to find demons within their forest.

"Well," Starshock responded "I guess we'll have to finish the job!"

Before either of them said anything else, he rushed into their base and began hacking away at the demons. Very soon, he was surrounded by fel guards, succubi, and even an infernal, fending off attacks from all sides. As the infernal prepared to land a crushing blow on him, the creature roared and collapsed, destroyed by the elf's frost magic. She slayed many other demons over the course of the ambush, all too distracted by the large paladin who had charged them to even see her. They had cleared out the main area pretty quickly, but they knew that the demons would return, and would be more prepared to fend off any future heroes.

"The demons must have a hidden gate of some kind. There is no other way they could have replenished their ranks so quickly."

Starshock nodded back to her, "Well, they are gone again, and this time, they know that who they're up against hasn't given up. Perhaps you could gather up a few scouts and hunt down that portal, then we could end the legion's presence here once and for all. I'd love to stay and help, but I'd like to check out the Eastern Kingdoms like you said I should."

"That is exactly what I intend to do," she called her undead steed to her, ready to return to the night elf capital and rally a search party. "Oh, and I forgot to say, you fight very well for a tauren..."

"Thanks, elf. You're pretty good yourself."

"Please, don't call me 'elf'. My name is Anstyce."

"Anstyce...

Then you can call me Starshock. Good luck Anstyce, and let's hope we get a chance to meet again."

He mounted his drake and flew back to Orgrimmar, and as he left her sight, the night elf whispered to herself,

"This one seems rather unusual to me. Perhaps I should let Trixye know he's on his way to her location..."


	3. Chapter 3

Starshock eventually made landfall in Stranglethorn Vale, preparing his flight through Stormwind as he stopped at the inn. Having eventually formed a plan to get through the city without causing an incident, he flew off to the Alliance capital of Stormwind City. Evading detection from the guards and any patrolling heroes had gone well, though his search revealed very little to him, at least, until he overheard something at the Dwarven District's inn...

"A world divided

We all think that our fights are one sided

We forgot where our rage was derided

But peace hadn't worked when we tried it,"

Immediately, he recognized what the human was doing. He seemed to be imitating a form of spoken word poetry that became popular after war broke out, but something seemed off about his voice, like it was being altered by something. And he seemed to be singing, or speaking in a weird-tone, about the horde and alliance's war...

His thoughts, and the human's half-singing, were cut off by someone yelling.

"Eynak! Quiet down and get 'yer arse over here! It's your shift!"

The human, using his normal, deeper voice, yelled back,

"Yeah, I'll get there when I get there! And you have to use my full name when we're this close to my shift!"

"Ugh, fine, ya picky bastard. Eynak East, quiet down and get 'yer arse over here..."

_"Eynak East..._

_I'll be sure to remember this for later..."_

Starshock was ready to slip away and investigate the royal chamber when he heard the dwarven innkeeper say something else...

"And Eynak, ya shouldn't be usin' that sketchy gizmo to sing. It doesn't even sound like you."

"Well yeah, it doesn't, but G Pain does it all the time, and he sounds just fine, with or without it. Besides, that's what makes it so popular."

Starshock was sure to prepare something for Eynak and this "G Pain" later, but for now, he snuck off to the royal chambers to hear about what was going on. Thankfully, the guards were fairly easy to distract, and he managed to catch King Varian and Genn Greymane in the middle of a discussion.

"Varian, you can't give up yet. If there is some kind of secret organization going on, you have to strike it down before it becomes dangerous."

"With all due respect, Genn, we've been tracking this place for a year, and we haven't found a thing that tells us they are any threat. Besides, what trouble could this group be? They seem to be working against the legion, and the only ship to report a sighting of anything odd was south of the Maelstrom, and we already confirmed there's nothing there. So I'm calling off the search."

A wash of relief came over Starshock, realizing that King Varian was finally done trying to find the City of Miracles, so he brandished his hearthstone and prepared to leave, until he heard him say one more thing...

"Now that the search is over, maybe we could send the extra money to that weapon facility."

"Balderdash! You know as well as I do that they haven't made any weapons in the past two months! If you pay them so soon, they'll have even less of a reason to finish anything we've commissioned..."

Starshock was nervous about the alliance funding a weapons facility, so he made a note of Varian's information, sure that he could send an alliance agent to learn more. Having heard enough from the city, he gathered some distance from the two kings and prepared to hearth his way out, only to run into a small problem.

"What do you thing you're doing here?"

He literally froze as he looked down and saw a gnome in front of him, a rather malicious smirk on her face, and he could tell she was dangerous, since she almost radiated fel energy to him, even if she had pink hair...

"What, you don't speak common, or you just don't see any gnomes these days?"

"No, I understand you," he spoke back in fairly fluent common, "But I figured you would attack me first."

"If you were anyone else, I probably would, but it's not every day you see a tauren that can slip past the royal guards, and a fully armored one at that..."

"Look, thank you, madam gnome, but if you're not going to attack me or call the guards, could you just let me pass?"

The gnome grinned and a fire manifested on her hand.

"Now why would I let you go so soon? I have a lot to ask you about, and I'd like to hear answers...

"First, who are you, and why are you sneaking into Stormwind?"

Starshock, unsure of whether to try and fight her or not, and knowing that she wouldn't know what she meant, answered honestly.

"I am the leader of the City of Miracles, and I have come to learn of any current events that would be of any concern."

"You mean that new faction Varian was trying to locate?"

"Err, no. You must be thinking of-"

"Don't even try lying to me, Starshock...

I know what you're really doing with that city. I won't stop you though...

We might be able to see eye to eye on a few things, if your little project is what I think it is. Perhaps we can speak later, should we meet again, and I intend that we will."

Starshock was somewhat grateful for this turn of events, but he was mostly just confused.

"Very well, but where do we next meet? Booty Bay might make a decent place to talk..."

"Then there it shall be. Thank you for your cooperation, Starshock. You may call me Trixye."

"Well met, Trixye, but I have a few questions for you myself...

First though, I need to return to the Undercity to here news from the North."

Starshock, seeing that the front area was cleared out, called his drake back and flew off, curious to learn more about this gnome and how she knew of him and the CoM, when he had the chance...

* * *

A few hours prior...

As heroes and guards wandered under the ruins of the once proud city of Lordearon, the once empty courtyard lay empty and cold, except for one small corner, obscured by the city walls. Within this darkened corner, DJ GotYa stood vigilant, overseeing a highly decayed, practically stitched up body covered in clean armor, and was soon joined by a shifty forsaken rogue. GotYa turned to the rogue and quietly asked him,

"You came alone? Why? You know of my plans, and how they will effect you..."

"That matters not, brother..." the undead responded in a raspy voice, "I value our once great kingdom as much as you do, and if restoring it means I won't live, or unlive, to see it, then so be it."

The rogue then set a flask of strange, gassy liquid on the table near the decayed body.

"Thank you, brother. Lordearon may not know of your heroism, but I will..."

The rogue snuck into the shadowed wall, blending into it and disappearing. Seeing that his brother was gone, DJ then poured the flask's contents on the body, which seemed to actually be breathing its old life back into it. The body, now as vibrant and lively looking as a living human, even now breathing as one, lay limp as if still deceased. DJ then began to channel a powerful dark magic, chanting as he did.

_"Spirits of the damned_

_Heroes of old_

_I call to you!_

_Bring me our champion!"_

As DJ's chant grew louder and stronger, a terrible cloud of shadow energy formed above him and the body.

_"With all my power_

_I return you to glory!_

_Deliver us to paradise on Azeroth,_

_LORD OTHMAR GARITHOS!"_

As he yelled his name, the cloud unleashed a burst of energy on the body, a spirit of sorts flowing through the blast and into it. As it did, the body opened its eyes and jumped up, awoken and alive...


	4. Chapter 4

As deathguards surrounded the inner courtyard door, an elderly orcish shaman broke through the sounds of their silent murmuring.

"What sort of event has gathered you guards here like this?"

"Silence, orc, and see for yourself."

The orc walked to the door and looked through it, seeing an undead surrounded by some kind of energy sphere on the other side. He wasn't moving within the sphere, simply maintaining a meditative stance of some kind. The orc walked up to the sphere and touched it. It felt solid, but radiated life energy...

"Shaman, you stand before the one and only 'master of balance',"

"Who is that? And why do you know of him?"

"Well, before-"

The guard was interrupted by an explosion of some kind. The guards rushed off, their apparent captain fastest of all. The orc remained at the room, curious about the monk and what he was doing.

"Damn the alliance. It's enough that they attack our people on sight, but to attack the capital itself, the audacity!"

The explosion led them to the outer courtyards, just within the walls of the city, but what they found there was a lot worse...

"You stole our home and defiled our city! Prepare for the afterlife, you foul monsters!"

* * *

As Starshock's zeppelin of choice took off from Grom'gol Basecamp, the orcs' base of operations in Stranglethorn Vale, he began thinking about recent events. he couldn't help but wonder why that pink haired gnome would let him go, or how she knew of him. But also, he pondered the gem he held in his bag. It was nothing like the one he carried in his old weapon. This one didn't just radiate power; it seemed like it was trying to tap into _his_ strength...

Before he knew it, he was already drifting off, falling asleep on the zeppelin and staying that way for the duration of the trip.

When he awoke and disembarked, he was surprised to find the first thing at the base of the zeppelin tower was a warning poster.

_WARNING: DARK MAGIC HAS AWOKEN AND EMPOWERED A VENGEFUL ENEMY! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!_

The poster depicted a decently drawn human with brown hair and a full mustache and beard. Starshock also noticed the human's shield. It seemed to carry the emblem of Lordearon, so he figured this angry spirit was a victim of the scourge who had not become forsaken, though he was unsure of how his body was so intact...

His thoughts were interrupted when one of the Undercity's deathguards ran towards him.

"Tauren! You want a couple hundred gold pieces? Destroy that spirit and it's yours!"

Looking to where the guard ran from, he saw the spirit in question, and the raging human slammed his sword into the ground upon seeing the tauren.

"Demon! I thought we were done with your kind long ago, but I won't mind killing a few more!"

Starshock pulled his axe and shield out, responding in his best common,

"I am no demon, strange human, but that matters not! And you may try, but I won't fall that easily!"

Starshock leaped towards the human and slammed his axe down on his head, only to get knocked away by a single swipe from his shield.

"Demonic or not, any ally of these undead scum is deserving of the same fate as them!"

The human then pulled his sword back from the ground and charged towards the vulnerable tauren.

"Creature, whatever you may be, know that the humans of Lordearon will not tolerate your defilement any longer!"

Just as he prepared the final blow, he shot up in pain, struck by some kind of energy.

"Ahh! Who dares-"

The human gasped in shock, and anger, as he saw his assailant, a white haired elf, wielding a runed sword. But more than that, it seemed he recognized him from somewhere.

"YOU! You're one of _his_ old followers! I had hoped to see you wiped from-"

Before he could finish his ranting, the elf channeled some kind of frost energy in his hands, striking him with enough force to knock his weapon away.

"Damn you, traitor! This isn't over, blood elf...

You and your master will pay for your betrayal!"

The human, surprisingly quick on his feet, ran from them faster than should have been possible. Starshock, pulling himself off of the ground, turned to his recent savior.

"Thank you, death knight, but if I may ask, who was that, and why does he know you?"

The elf then sheathed his blade, calming himself down.

"Tauren, that was Lord Garithos, and he is bad news...

He was one of Lordearon's last remaining leaders, and considered the final leader of what was left of the alliance, but he despises non-humans, and would be content to see them exterminated. He put me and Kael'thas's old followers on suicide missions, and even put us to death for accepting aid from the naga. And now that he's back, and by the look of your fight, stronger than ever, he's going to seek revenge on his old enemies, and everyone affiliated with them..."

Starshock was rather disbelieving of this situation, if only for one reason.

"This guy is strong, and dangerous to be sure, but how could Garithos have returned? Not only was he slain, but his body was devoured by ghouls, if the stories I've heard were true."

"That may be so, but he has devoted supporters, and they, or any survivor of Lordearon for that matter, would do anything to see their lost Kingdom returned to glory, even if it means picking through a few ghoul remains..."

Starshock, unwilling to pursue this weird matter any further, grabbed his special hearthstone and prepared to return to the CoM, unsure of what to make of this encounter...

* * *

"It was a success, master...

Now, you remember our deal..."

DJ Gotya, still annoyed by his succubus, sighed and responded.

"Yes, Lady Chaos. For your assistance with my longtime plan and your, err, moral support...

I hereby unbind you from my grasp. But first, you said you needed to go somewhere..."

The succubus simply grinned and said,

"Yes, old master. Take me to the CoM, so I can visit an old friend..."


	5. Chapter 5

As Starshock returned to his tower in the CoM, winded and confused, he continued to play the days' events in his head. A set of strange gems, a run in with a night elf and a short demon fight, a sneaky tour of Stormwind and several local oddballs, and a racist Grand Marshal from the past brought back to life...

"It's time like this I almost begin to miss the likes of Outland. At least _we_ came to _them_ before we saw the strange stuff..."

_"Indeed you did, Starshock. But it's a tougher world now."_

He turned to where the voice came from, and reeled back in horror, seeing_ her_ face again...

"Aphrodetta...

I was hoping I had seen the last of you..."

"Please, don't call me by what that disgusting human girl called me. I'm Lady Chaos now, and I had hoped you'd be happy to see me again. Now please hear me out, sweetie; if you come with me, back to the simpler days of our short lived but amazing love affair, you'd never have to be involved with this cruel world again. It could be just you and me, all over again..."

Starshock pulled out his axe and shield, clearly ready for a fight.

"You and I remember those days a bit differently, and I won't have any of that!"

The succubus sighed and reached for her whip.

"Oh, Starshock...

I didn't want to hurt you, but if you won't come with me willingly, I guess I'll have to take you with me..."

She pulled her whip out, lashing the ground with it and spreading her wings wide open. Starshock threw his shield at her, but she lashed the whip down onto it, knocking it to the ground. As she did, he noticed some kind of energy emitting from it...

Before he could figure this out, she lashed her whip at his axe arm, wrapping around it tightly, breaking his grip on it. She then pulled him forward.

"Do you like how tough I've become? Believe me, you did a lot for me when you killed me that one time..."

As Starshock began pulling at her whip, trying to break her grip on him, something began to glow in his bag, catching his attention as well as the succubus's. She reached into the bag to grab the item, but as she did, she reeled back in pain, tossing the gem towards Starshock as she dropped it. He caught the gem with his free arm, but as he did, he felt an amazing surge of energy, and with one good tug, broke the whip tied around his arm.

"What kind of trick is this!?"

Starshock then pulled up his axe and shield again, slashing and striking her with a flurry of powerful strikes, each of them radiating a glow of holy energy. He then pulled his axe over his head, slashing down across her chest, which seemed to end her life.

"This, is incredible...

That gem has given me strength the likes of which I never knew I even had! But why did it not glow earlier?

This leaves me a lot to think about..."

* * *

As the court of Lordearon remained abandoned after Garithos's rampage, the room once occupied by several death guards had also been abandoned by all but the strange Master of Balance. His eyes had remained closed, tightly bound in his own defense, but they soon shot open, as he felt one of his _discoveries_ had found purpose...

"The gems...

Someone has brought life to one of them..."

As he unfolded from his meditative stance and his barrier opened up, a grin appeared on his decrepit face.

"The quest to bring balance back to our world, begins..."


End file.
